Still waiting to be discovered

Most people surveyed by the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District were not aware of the group’s 2-year-old slogan, “Worth Discovering Since 1609” … a reference to the city’s discovery that year by Henry Hudson.

Only 15 percent of 622 people from around the region, interviewed by phone in October, knew of the Albany catch-phrase. However, that was up from 6 percent awareness two years ago.

The survey also found:

*Twice as many people care about the ease of parking as about its cost.

*40 percent would use valet parking if available, while half of those would pay $5 to $7 for it.

*44 percent say downtown Albany is a good place to live.

*One-third cited restaurants/bars/nightclubs as the most important non-work reason to go downtown. Another third cited arts and cultural performances.

What can we deduce from all this? Apparently, Albany is a good place to live, a bad place to park, and the drinking is rivaled only by the drawing.

Oh, and that guy who plays Henry Hudson needs to work it a little more.